Indonesia establishes Tsunami warning system

12:35 AM Wed 31 Dec 2008 GMT

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Hoping to predict and protect the region, Indonesia has launched a Tsunami warning system that while not quite perfect, aims to cover as much of the area as possible.

The Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami was the result of an earthquake below the seabed measuring 9.3 on the Richter scale.

The resulting tidal wave struck the Banda Aceh coast in Sumatra within 15 minutes, but in the hours that followed the devastating impact left up to 350,000 dead and hundreds of thousands more homeless.

Coastal communities in 11 countries were affected, with 168,000 people killed in Indonesia alone. In fact, 60% of Indonesia's coastline is at risk of tsunamis.

In November, the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono launched a sophisticated new tsunami warning system designed to give coastal residents enough time to flee or seek shelter from an impending tidal wave.

But experts involved in setting up the system admit that some areas of the country, including the province of Aceh, will not be fully protected by it.

Dr Lauterjung, a spokesman for the German government which is assisting in the programme, said that deep sea buoys - the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (Dart) system - responsible for detecting changes in sea levels had not yet been installed around the islands of Bali, Flores and the northern part of Sumatra, which includes Aceh, meaning there would be a 'time delay' in predicting a tsunami.

Around a third of the seismographs stipulated in the government's plan are also not yet in place.

Dr Sri Woro, the head of Indonesia's meteorological agency, added that there were still 'infrastructure problems' in making the network of sensors and stations work smoothly together. The system is expected to be fully completed by 2010.

The new system relies on three main parts: seismographs warn of any earthquakes that are likely to trigger a tsunami, then satellites monitor changes in the earth's crust, while tide gauges and deep-sea buoys measure whether sea levels are actually changing as a result.